Queen of Disgrace

[Isla Hitchens]

• Of all the candidates, Isla thought Lucille’s sister-in-law to be best in line with her personal beliefs, but that hardly stopped her from attending the functions of other candidates—especially such entertaining ones!—even though neither she nor her husband were eligible to vote. To that end, she was particularly interested in speaking with Mr. Urquart, one of the more liberal of the candidates (and a man whom, like her, had ‘disgraced’ his family in his marriage and fallen to the middle class). If anyone would be inclined to give the vote toe either Hitchens in the future, it would be him—or perhaps Mr. Scamander.
  
  Thus far, however, she had failed in finding Mr. Urquart—and managed to lose her companion! While this would not have ordinarily been of much concern to the witch, she had shied away from larger social gatherings since her marriage two Christmases before. While this crowd was hardly the same group that now disdained her so, Isla could not help but feel threatened just in being out and about. It was an unfortunate feeling, one that occurred far too often, and one that she was trying to shake before it restricted her lifestyle further, but as she smiled and chatted externally, internally she was striving not to panic. How she wished Bob could have accompanied her!
  
  “Regrettably I did not—though I heard it was excellent,” she replied to her latest conversational partner, who had asked if she had attended Mr. Prewett’s opera just a few days prior. At that event she had felt sure to run into someone she would rather avoid, and so, while she loved opera, Isla had been keen to give it a miss.

  

[Eugene Scamander]

While Eugene was not one to attend operas, he found himself attending more social events this spring than he had ever anticipated. Of course, when you decided to run for minister this was a natural progression to your social life. It wasn't that he was a recluse either, but he was fairly certain he'd never been this busy before!

Mostly, he supposed that he was doing a little reconnaissance for his own campaign purposes. He was also making a point to at least attend one of each of his competitor's events; showing his face anywhere wasn't going to hurt him.

So Eugene schmoozed his way through the room, stopping to chat here and there with people who either approached him or caught his eye. He was an open book about his campaign points and ideals and so far tonight he'd been grilled by a rather zealous upper class matron about his views on meritocracy. As insulting as it should have been, Eugene had been rather amused the entire time, which had probably showed on his face. Currently he was standing on the outskirts of a small group of people, sipping on some champagne, taking a quick break.

Mr. Prewett's last event, which Eugene had been able to attend himself, was brought up and Eugene couldn't help but he couldn't find too much enthusiasm for it; but like tonight, the opera was simply not his forte. "I fear I may have nodded off myself." He joked lightheartedly to the dark-haired woman nearby. "Though it was an informative evening." He added on a more realistic note.

  

[Isla Hitchens]

• The eyes on the woman to whom she had been speaking widened terribly in shock, but Isla took the statement for what it was—humour. Besides, opera was not exactly everyone’s preference, though she was curious as to why the gentlemen had attended—and was attending this one—if disinclined towards it.
  
  “Informative in what way, Mr. Scamander?*” Isla inquired pleasantly. “I would not have thought any of the performers would have liked to be upstaged by one of Mr. Prewett’s speeches—unless, of course,” she added, a joke to match his own, “you are a clairvoyant and the future came to you in a dream during your dozing?”

*Dude if Isla doesn’t know who he is there is something wrong with both of them.

  

[Eugene Scamander]

While he knew he probably had just dug himself a hole with some people in the crowd, the young woman joked back and he was glad the humor had at least broken any semblance of tension there could have been. "The people watching at such events is truly where the education begins." Eugene, while not a fan of these things, did enjoy watching people work their ways around the room. It was highly informative to people's personalities. "Besides, getting to know my fellow candidates and their supporters is never a bad habit to get into." Not that Eugene was convinced he would be able to sway any voters his way, knowing where people stood made him a better informed prospect.

"A daydream or two would not be out of the question, as well." He countered with a grin. "Though even I don't think I would hallucinate about operas and candidate speeches." No, that as was more like a short nightmare. Eugene was very good at shutting off all campaign things as soon as he stepped through the door in the evening. He liked to leave it all at the door and spend time with his wife and his sister without having it hanging over his head.

  

[Isla Hitchens]

• “And what do you dream about, Mr. Scamander?” Though her expression remained light, there was a pointedness about Isla’s gaze. That she herself did not have the vote did not stop her from having an interest.

  

[Eugene Scamander]

Ah, and there was the typical question for a candidate, if phrased a bit differently. He'd been asked his plans, his ideas and everything else pertaining to this campaign inn many different ways, but he thought the transition into this one was perfectly played.

"A little cohesiveness would be nice. I'm looking forward to a point where lower class students are afforded the same opportunities with those who come from wealth. We're going to run ourselves into the ground if we think that nothing good ever comes out of the Slums." Education was his biggest campaign point and he would ride that train all day. "There needs to be a level of accessibility to education that evens out the playing field a little bit." He nodded to punctuate his statement, thinking he'd rather not get into the blood debate yet again.

  

[Isla Hitchens]

• The interests of the poor had never much piqued Isla’s interests—at least, not until she herself had started having to make do with less (though she and Bob were far from destitute) than she was accustomed to. In truth, her husband had gentled her, and while she was still somewhat conservative where classes were concerned, she could at least appreciate Mr. Scamander’s position on education far more than she could have when still living with her natal family.
  
  She smiled and nodded, allowing herself a moment to think before asking, “but aren’t scholarships, by nature, designed to already keep the brightest in school? I know that there were students in my day whose grades saw them on full scholarship, and I never once saw them squander their potential by taking a low-paying, unskilled job as so many of the more comfortable fellows do.”

  

[Eugene Scamander]

"To keep them in school, yes." Eugene nodded. The current system was designed to let students who had started school and maintained the grades to continue. "However, there are a lot of children who don't even get to school because they can't afford the books or the robes. Those are the children I'm trying to focus on because we'll never know if they deserve the chance if they never get it." Even the basic scholarship afforded to lower class students only covered tuition, they were at a disadvantage before they even truly started.

"Our current system is limited and could stand to be improved." It didn't reach enough people and that needed to change.

  

[Isla Hitchens]

• That took a moment for Isla to process. As little thought she had given to the poorer students paying tuition the witch had given even less still to their supply costs. It had simply been something she had always taken for granted, and even though Bob was not as affluent as her parents or brother, she was entirely confident that little Persephone would have no financial concerns where education was concerned. She supposed, then, that his efforts were admirable—and likely necessary, if the candidates from backgrounds such as her own shared her lack of attention to the matter.
  
  “One can hardly fault a man for wanting to send children to school,” she agreed amiably with a smile. “Though I fear many of our systems are limited, not only education. While I am not so politically minded, I know that my own future—insofar as politics go—is left entirely in the hands of strangers, with both myself and my dear husband unable to vote.”
  

  

[Eugene Scamander]

It seemed that Eugene had at least caused a pause to think, which was ultimately his goal. The conversation flowed on naturally and while the problem was not directly mentioned, Eugene could infer what it was that the woman meant. Eugene too, thought that the political system, with its restrictions on voting was also an issue. In fact it was a detriment to his own, quite liberal campaign.

"I do agree," Eugene would love to see women have their own vote. "Perhaps starting with these young, fresh minds at the school will help bring about further changes down the line." Eugene was hopeful that one change would start a catalyst for others. Who knew, if these children were offered the opportunity, what they could eventually do was limitless. It wouldn't do them much good at the moment, but the next generation would certainly benefit.

  

[Isla Hitchens]

• That was not quite so direct as she might have liked, but Isla’s mouth shut on her rebuttal with the sound of her name behind her—it seemed Lucille had resurfaced and sought her attention.
  
  “You must excuse me, Mr. Scamander—it seems the friend I have been looking for has finally found me! I wish you, of course, all the best on your campaign.”